Hello everyone!

The other day my AP Euro teacher made a comment along the lines of, “You guys are always bragging about how little sleep you got and how many hours you spent studying for Euro. It’s a very odd competition, stop doing that!” This got me thinking: why do students constantly bring up the amount of time they spent working instead of sleeping? I know this is a very common thing, so I wanted to address why we do it and why it’s a problem.

• Wanting validation – If you stay up all night and come to school exhausted, you’re going to want some recognition for it. You might think others will respect you more, or they’ll think to themselves, “Wow, what a committed student.”
• Believing the more time spent working, the more successful you will be – Some people equate the time they put into something to how well they will do with it. Time is definitely an important factor, but only if it’s productive; just because you spent a certain amount of hours on something doesn’t mean they were hours well spent. Especially if you’re forgoing sleep to keep working, the quality of your efforts may decrease.
• Competition aspect – School can be super competitive these days with college admissions and such (another topic I’ve written about a lot!). You may feel that it’s necessary to pull all-nighters studying in order to get the best grades in the hardest classes and feel like you’re doing more work than others. This is a dangerous game, but it may make people feel like they’re one-upping everyone else in the moment.
• Peer pressure – It might just seem like the thing to do. Everyone is staying up late and studying, so you want to contribute to the conversation. Because obviously the person who gets the least sleep is the coolest, right?
• The prevalence of workaholicism – I feel like there’s this stigma against letting yourself relax if you want to be successful. People feel like they have to be doing something all the time, and it’s almost like you’re considered lazy if you’re not. Yes, you’ll have to put some hard work in to be successful; however, you don’t have to stress yourself out all the time. It’s dangerous to keep perpetuating this idealized image of never-ending work.

Remember, sleep is important!!! I know it’s a lame thing to say/remind you guys of, but I feel like I should nonetheless. Stopping work for the night and going to bed early when you’re tired is nothing to be ashamed of; it’s probably a better choice for your mental and physical health. I’ve written a lot about productivity lately, and I promise different content is coming soon- that being said, have a wonderful and productive day.

-Brooke

Good morning everyone!

I’ve found my motivation lacking lately; maybe it’s the excessive amounts of homework or the lack of relaxation I’ve had in the past few weeks, but it could honestly be anything. I know a lot of you are probably experiencing similar feelings and similar levels of stress, so my goal with this post is just to help you find some inspiration and rejuvenate.

• Appreciate where you are in your journey, even if it’s not where you want to be. Every season serves a purpose.
• Not all storms come to disrupt your life. Some come to clear your path.
• Two things you are in total control of in life are your attitude and your effort.
• If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.
• It’s a slow process, but quitting won’t speed it up.
• Be the kind of person that makes other people want to up their game.
• A goal should scare you a little, and excite you a lot.
• Keep going, because you did not come this far just to come this far.
• You will never always be motivated, so you must learn to be disciplined.
• Your current situation is giving you an opportunity to re-evaluate what you want.
• Wake up with determination, go to bed with satisfaction.
• Do something today that your future self will thank you for.

I know it’s a bit cheesy, but we all need that little pick-me-up sometimes. There’s no rest for the weary, as my mom often says to me, but you can use the little moments to cheer yourself up. Have an amazing weekend, and use the time to recharge!

-Brooke

Hello everyone!

As an overthinker constantly experiencing mini-existential crises, I spend a lot of my time just thinking about stuff. I know that’s probably the least descriptive way to explain it, but it’s the best way I can think of. My mind wanders easily and before I know it, I’ll have spent an hour laying in bed contemplating life or getting caught up in random articles on the Internet when I was originally just trying to look up one question. I guess you could describe me as easily distracted, but I think that has more of a negative connotation.

Based on this, I would describe myself as more of a thinker. I deliberate on things for a long time before I act on them (sometimes to the point where it’s ridiculous and I’ve wasted a lot of time), and I can be very indecisive. I like to learn and ask questions, but I often do it in more of a random, independent exploration-way. Since I’m also pretty shy/introverted, I don’t speak up or actively seek out learning in group settings as much.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this- I used to think I was odd for being this way, but everyone’s different. In fact, part of the reason I’m writing this is because I hope some of you can relate. I’ve never been the person to think of a great idea and immediately take action, or step up to be a leader. Again, there’s nothing wrong with this; the problem for me personally is that I often wish I was more of a leader, a “doer”, if you will.

Even though I’m shy, I’ve always gravitated towards extroverted, leader-type people; most of my friends are a lot more outgoing than me. They inspire me because of their leadership abilities and their drive to just take action whenever an opportunity comes up. I’m still working on verbalizing more of the ideas/thoughts I come up with, and being more comfortable talking/leading people, but I have a long way to go. It’s not that I think I need to be a leader in order to be a successful/good/happy person, it’s that I’ve always had the internal desire to be one.

Lots of people desire to be something other than what they are naturally; that’s part of being human. I recently wrote a post on not comparing yourself to others, so I apologize if this post seems a bit contradictory. However, I believe that this subject of being a thinker vs. being a doer doesn’t have to be related to comparing yourself/trying to change yourself; it’s simply about you and your thought process. We all have our own ways of getting things done, but we can always improve.

-Brooke

Good morning everyone!

I miss the days where I always had time to curl up in bed with a good book; I could easily dive into pretty much any genre and fall in love with the story. I’m the type of person who gets super attached to fictional characters, and I could often picture myself living in the fictional worlds I would read about. When I was younger and read more often, I think I had a much more vivid imagination and a more creative perspective on life.

Reading articles and social media posts online is definitely better than not reading at all (I LOVE to read blog posts, unsurprisingly), but nothing can replace real books. There’s something to be said about flipping through the pages, staying up late because you just had to finish and find out what happens next.

I was lucky to have parents that really encouraged my love of reading. My mom would read a chapter from a book of my choice to me every night before bed from the age of 2 until probably the age of 10. Whenever I was sick or was having a bad day, I would ask her to read more. Reading was my escape, and it always made me feel better.

I still feel the same love for reading and books that I always have, but it’s taken a backseat in my life. I mean, I can barely keep up with my reading assignments for English class, let alone picking up a new book for fun! It’s definitely something I need to reprioritize in my life, but I just wanted to throw it out there for anyone else in a similar situation as me.

If reading was an escape from all the stress and bad things in the world when you were younger, it can still serve as that escape now. Never underestimate the power of an old childhood favorite book, no matter how childish/cliché/silly it may seem now. Whenever I do have the chance to read, those are almost always what I turn to.

-Brooke

Welcome back everyone!

I’ve written a lot of posts about “getting involved” during your high school career, and the importance of activities. But what does that really mean? Getting involved can entail different things for everyone, which is why people tend to give such general advice regarding the topic. I know I had no clue where to start in joining clubs/extracurriculars and figuring out what I enjoy doing- actually, I still am a little clueless! That being said, I’ve learned a lot since I started my journey freshman year, and I’m going to share that knowledge with you.

I think it’s necessary to address some of the cliché, broad statements you’ll often hear; keep in mind, these are often true… but they’re still cliché.

• Depth over breadth – This is something I’ve struggled with. I’ve never been particularly drawn to one field/topic or fallen in love with one activity, so I’ve tried to explore lots of things and join new activities whenever possible in search of my “passion”. I think it’s absolutely important to stick with activities and get really involved in the ones you love rather than joining 25 clubs just because, but don’t feel bad if your activities are a little bit all over the place.
• Do what you love/follow your passion – Similar to what I said above, this is important, but it also doesn’t work out this way for everyone. If you have a passion, FOLLOW IT! Do everything you can to pursue it and become more immersed in that field; you’re lucky to have such a clear idea of what you love. However, if you don’t have a passion/specific things you love doing, it’s okay to just try new things. You don’t have to go into everything trying to make it your passion.
• Drop time-suck activities – This is a tricky one, because what exactly is a time-suck? Any activity can be time-consuming if you’re putting a lot of time and effort into it; it just depends on what you’re personally getting out of it. For example, if you’re in a sport and have two-hour practices everyday, but you don’t genuinely enjoy the sport/you’re not the best at it, that time could be spent doing so many other things you do like. However, if you enjoy your activities that could be considered “time-sucks”, don’t drop them. It’s that simple; just evaluate what else you could be doing and how pressed you are for time.
• Be a leader, not just a participant – Again, leadership roles are definitely something you will want to have eventually. However, you don’t have to be a leader in everything you do, and it’s okay if you don’t naturally gravitate towards being a leader in a group at all- not everyone wants to be a leader, and not everyone should. I would definitely recommend leading projects/groups when necessary or when you have an idea that no one else does/no one else is going to act on. For example, don’t be afraid to start your own club or do your own service project.

These are the main cliché statements I’ve encountered when searching for extracurricular advice. I’m still trying to find my “passion” and figure out what I want to pursue through my activities in high school/how I want to use my time, and it’s honestly really difficult. There’s so many options out there; therefore, there’s so many different paths you can take- the amount of options overwhelms my indecisive brain! The main thing that calms me down is just remembering that we’re all exactly where we’re meant to be right now, and things will work themselves out in the long run.

-Brooke

Good morning everyone!

You’re either reading this on a phone, tablet, or computer screen right now. You probably spend at least a few hours on that device a day, reading lots of other random articles and blog posts like this one. I know I do- multiple hours of my time are usually wasted scrolling through social media every day. I don’t even realize it, since it’s in innocent-seeming five-minute breaks every so often. It’s an integral part of our lives at this point, so why not talk about it?

Don’t worry, I’m not a hater on all things Internet-related. However, I’m not the biggest fan of our media-heavy culture either. Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube; they all make us (whether subconsciously or consciously) compare ourselves to others. Beyond the unrealistic comparisons to others, which is an overused criticism of social media in my opinion, they distract us from our real lives. We get sucked into some videos, and before you know it, it’s 8pm and you haven’t done your homework or anything else productive.

How do we use social media for entertainment without crossing that line? It can be a nice little break from the daily tasks of life, but too much always seems to end in stressful procrastination. Last year I began using the Screen Time feature on my phone to limit my time spent on certain apps and analyze how much time I really spend on my phone everyday. I was kind of appalled at the results; I had an average of five to six hours a day, with more on weekends. In my defense, I often leave YouTube videos or Netflix on in the background while I’m cleaning or working on other things, so that’s not all time spent straight-staring at my screen.

That brings me to another point- we’ve become dependent on having some sort of stimulation at all times. Listening to music while studying/working definitely isn’t a new thing, and it happens to be very relaxing, but watching YouTube and Netflix while working is a whole different issue. I personally always feel like I need to be multi-tasking all the time, so when I want to watch a video or TV show, I’ll play it in the background while I’m doing my homework. This works better for some people than it does for others, but that’s not the point; why do we have this constant need to be stimulated both online and in the real world?

Okay, I’ll stop hating on social media (for now) and discuss some of the wonderful things about it. For one, it does help you stay in touch with people. I have old friends that I probably would’ve completely lost touch with years ago if it wasn’t so easy to reach out and reconnect with a press of a button. If you’re feeling down and you need to talk to a friend, someone’s always going to be online. You can FaceTime people you miss, you can keep up with acquaintances that you probably won’t actually hang out with in person, and you can meet entirely new people through different apps.

The importance of social media has also grown even more since it’s been recognized as an important business and marketing tool. There are sites like LinkedIn for job networking, and every company out there has an Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. There are endless opportunities in the vast online world, and it definitely helps people find their way through the job market. It also helps students- there’s lots of ways to get in contact with colleges, and there’s tons of other resources on social media for tutoring and such.

I think the problem with social media is that we don’t actually know how to utilize it. Sure, we know all of the amazing things it can do as well as all the horrible things it can do, but we don’t know how to use it without letting it take over a little bit too much. In the near future I don’t see this changing, but you can determine your own fate by being mindful of how you spend your time online, and why you choose to do so.

-Brooke

Welcome back guys!

I’ve mentioned multiple times on this blog that I am a writer and designer on my school’s yearbook staff this year. The first month or so of school has just been getting new members (like me!) caught up on how to use the software, how the class runs, and so on. We’ve finally started our first assignments/activities, and I’m a little overwhelmed. It’s not that I didn’t realize how much work it was going to be; the amount is manageable, and I knew it wouldn’t be a complete cakewalk.

I guess the best way that I can sum it up is that it’s overwhelming to be thrown into a major school activity that also happens to be a business (people pay for the yearbook), and has a significant legacy already. Our school is pretty large, so in turn, our yearbook is traditionally very large (around 500 pages). Take into account we have about 20 staff members and… yeah.

I didn’t think my social awkwardness would play such an annoying role in being a yearbook staff member either. I don’t know why I didn’t realize this earlier, but as a writer, I’m responsible for interviewing a lot of people so I can get quotes for my assignments. During the summer I imagined myself typing away on a computer like I did with my blog, writing about whatever I pleased. Obviously that wouldn’t have been the case no matter what, but I forgot about the interviewing process that comes before the writing as well.

I’m enjoying the design element of it all a lot more than I thought I would. I initially joined thinking I would be doing strictly writing assignments, but I think I’ve honestly spent more time practicing my design skills than writing. We use Adobe InDesign, which is a super fun program to work with. I definitely wish I was more creative and had unique ideas of what to actually design on the pages, but the platform in itself is fun.

I’m really hoping that once we continue to dive into things and move onto more assignments, I’ll find my stride. I don’t have a preference between writing or design at the moment, but I’m hoping that at least I’ll excel at one of them. The writing will be a creative relief since I’ve barely had any time to work on this blog or my personal writing outside of a few hours on my already-busy weekends.

This is definitely a shorter post, but I wanted to address the reality of being in yearbook so far since it’s something I’ve discussed on this blog. I’m really glad I joined, especially since there’s such wonderful and kind people in it, but it’s another example of things being harder than I expected. I look forward to learning a lot more throughout the year, and I’ll probably make another update like this within a couple months.

-Brooke

Welcome back everyone!

I’ve previously mentioned that one of the reasons I enjoy blogging so much is because it gives me a place to express my feelings and know that they’re out there for other people to possibly read and relate to. It’s such a powerful feeling to go through the writing process and have the release of posting it at the end. I always recommend that people write, even if it’s just a little journaling once in a while or if it’s making lists; it calms you down and it’s always a productive pastime. I’m going to explain a little bit more about why writing helps us de-stress so much and why I think we should all spend more time doing it.

• It gets your feelings out – As I mentioned, it’s such a release of thoughts, feelings, etc. No matter what emotions you’re experiencing or how overwhelmed you are, writing it all out has to help at least a little bit. It slows your thoughts down and forces you to process them; plus, putting them onto paper gets them out of your head and into the world.
• It’s creative; you can write whatever you want – You don’t have to write about your life or your problems at all. You can write about whatever pops into your head: your dreams, your wishes, a random story you’ve always had in the back of your head. It all depends on how much time you want to devote to it and what you feel like doing. If you don’t like painting/doing visual arts but still want to do something creative, write!
• Allows you to escape from reality – This goes along with being creative, but you can literally do anything you want with it. I find myself getting so caught up in writing, even if it’s something mundane like a school assignment or a to-do list. It sweeps you up because you’re forced to focus on it as you put ink to paper.
• Connects you with others – Reading and writing are so important in this world. When you write something and others relate to it or you read something that you relate to, there’s such a special feeling there. That’s why I love blogging; there’s always the possibility that people out there will connect with what you write.
• It stimulates your brain – It’s still a productive activity, but there’s no stress that comes along with it. It’s not as mind-numbing as watching Netflix (no hate, I watch way too much TV myself), but it’s still a relaxing thing you can wind down by doing.

I hope you enjoyed this post and are hopefully inspired to go write something. Ever since I started writing more often, I noticed how much calmer I was every time that I sat down to write. I am by no means a professional writer or an expert on anything writing-related; I just enjoy doing it, and you can too! Let me know if you have any comments/questions about this topic or if you have requests for future content. 🙂

-Brooke